Burkhead, who suffered an injury to his ribs in Sunday's win over the New Orleans Saints, did not practice Wednesday and also wasn't on the field for the start of Thursday's workout. If he is indeed unavailable, it would leave the Patriots with four running backs on the 46-man game-day roster: Mike Gillislee, James White, Dion Lewis and Brandon Bolden.

Carrying the load

Here is the distribution of snaps on offense for Patriots running backs through two games:

Name

Snaps

James White

73

Mike Gillislee

54

Dion Lewis

20

Rex Burkhead

18

Brandon Bolden

0

Source: ESPN Stats & Info

Burkhead, who appeared to be primed for an expanded workload against the Saints, didn't play on offense after the team's fourth series. He did return to the game on special teams, as a member of the punt-return unit, which could have been viewed as an indication that the injury wasn't initially diagnosed as anything overly serious.

As for how Burkhead's potential absence might affect the team's running back usage, it shouldn't have much of an impact on Gillislee and White. Their roles seem firmly established at this point, with Gillislee the top power option in short-yardage situations (four touchdown runs) and White the reliable top option as the "passing back."

If anything, it might create a bit more of a workload for Lewis, who had some success as a pass-catcher against the Texans in the divisional round of the playoffs last season.